PDP war of words: “He is a political prostitute” – Gov. Wamakko; “He is ignorant and lacks discipline” – Tukur

by Rachel Ogbu

Photo: Punch
Photo: Punch

Suspended Sokoto State Governor, Aliyu Wamakko and the PDP National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur have both engaged in a classic political verbal war causing more flames to the already steaming crises in the Peoples Democratic Party. The only thing missing from their banter was “yo mama!”

On Wednesday night, Wamakko said Tukur, was incompetent and running the party as his personal business.

“He  has been running the PDP as a personal business from his private home,” Wamakko told his supporters on his arrival from a foreign trip in Sokoto.

According to reports, the governor, who had earlier called on President Goodluck Jonathan to relieve Tukur of his job, also wants the same treatment meted out to the President’s Special Adviser on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak.

“As far as I am concerned, Tukur and Gulak should be sacked because they are not competent to hold their positions,” he said.

In reaction to the comments, on Thursday, Tukur shot back saying Wamakko lacked the “moral fibre to remain in office.”

Speaking through his Special Assistant on Media,  Oliver Okpala, he said: “When he insults an elderly man like Tukur because he is a governor, then we don’t think he has the moral fibre to remain in office because as a governor he should live by example.”

“If he has any agenda to leave the PDP, it is within his constitutional right and he is free, but as long as he remains within the PDP, he must align himself with discipline.”

“He should not stay in the party and be encouraging insubordination and indiscipline. The leadership of the party under Tukur has regards for party discipline and will never waver.”

“For him to say Tukur is a political prostitute does not  portray him as a true son. He should express a true sense of respect and discipline because of his position as a governor.

“The example he is showing now does not portray him as someone who has respect for seniority and properly constituted authority like the position of chairman of the PDP and the NWC.”

[READ: Enough is enough: Jonathan moves to resolve PDP crises ]

[READ: It’s really about the money – and more, in today’s news roundup with Cheta Nwanze ]

The Punch reports:

On the call for Tukur’s removal, Okpala said that as a father to every member of the PDP , Tukur had taken the call with calm.

He said no one should see Tukur’s and PDP leadership’s   determination to bring discipline to the party as a personal vendetta.

“When there is no discipline, there will be anarchy and when anarchy sets in, there will be retrogression,” he added.

Okpala also took on the  Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mallam Aminu Tambuwal,  who described   Wamakko’s suspension  as illegal.

Arguing that Tambuwal  was free to support his  state governor, Okpala said, “The speaker,   as a party man,  should toe the line of political discipline and comportment.

“Tukur, as a father, will always look after his children who are party members and be able to caution them and bring them to order whenever they engage in acts that are subversive to the corporate existence and image of the PDP as a political entity and the largest political movement in Africa.”

In his own reaction, Gulak said the call by Wamakko  for his removal showed that he (governor) was ignorant of the party’s workings.

Gulak toldone of our correspondents,  that  if Wammako had belonged to the PDP from inception, he would have known that its  members were bound by rules and regulations.

He said if the governor called for his removal because he was suspended from the PDP, he ought to know that as a presidential aide, his responsibilities did not include the running of the party.

Gulak  said, “If Wammako made that statement because he was suspended from the party, he should know that the PDP has hierarchy as well as rules and regulations that all members, no matter their positions, are expected to obey failing which they will be sanctioned.

“Rather than saying that the PDP chairman is not competent, the governor should search himself and identify his shortcomings and accept them.

“For me, I have nothing to do with his suspension. I am not a member of the party’s NWC. I am a presidential aide, he does not seem to understand that the Presidency has nothing to do with the running of the party.

“Wammako’s utterances are misplaced and based on ignorance. May be because he did not belong to the PDP from inception because he came from the ANPP and so he does not understand the workings of the party.”

Speaking with one of our correspondents earlier, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh,  said the party was not against the rally held by Wamakko’s supporters to welcome him.

 

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